Review: Family Guy “Yacht Rocky”

Overview:

Downsizing at the Pawtucket Brewery has Peter worried about his job. On the brink of being let go, he suffers a significant panic attack. To help lower his stress, the doctor recommends that he begin listening to “yacht rock”. Getting his friends and family onboard, Peter gets everybody to join him on a cruise ship dedicated to the soft rock. Unfortunately, it may not be such a stress-free vacation as the boat begins to sink.

Our Take:

Family Guy enters into its eighteenth season! What an impressive run for a series that has always been steps behind big brother Simpsons. The series has managed to keep up popularity by taking chances on how sitcoms are structured. There are many examples from the Star Wars parodies to last seasons cast commentary episode. Sometimes they work and remind us of how talented the creators can be. Other times, it feels like they continue to stretch this one for all it’s worth. Regardless, the Griffins continue to press on and push the limits of what can be said on television.

One thing you have to give Family Guy credit for is not trying to be like everyone else. Some jokes seem so ridiculous and stupid, and they play them up so much that you cannot help but laugh. This season premiere is full of stuff that doesn’t make sense, but for some reason or another is still funny to us.

For one, this episode is packed full of soft rock references. Half of which most of us won’t understand without Google at our sides. Why they think a Kenny Loggins reference would be funny may go over my head. But, the fact that they use it is funny enough. A boat full of artists that nobody really cares about in today’s music is kind of pointless. They are not making references to connect with today’s viewers, they just do it to have fun. So, by all means, reference Alan Parsons before you reference Ariana Grande, as long as they’re enjoying themselves writing this stuff, we will enjoy it as viewers.

Another way that Family Guy messes with the status quo of television is the way that they handle the third act. It has been one of my biggest complaints reviewing this series for two seasons, the unstructured conclusions. And, I can’t help but think that they do listen to critic complaints about the abrupt endings. But, instead of taking that criticism and trying to improve, they use it to their advantage. This episode goes directly from the most dire of situations to everything being solved without any resolution what so ever. I honestly thought for a moment that this was going to be a ‘to be continued’, which would have been much more disappointing. Instead, they just put things back to normal. Funny, but frustrating in its own right. What is the point of the rest of the story if you only end things wherever you like?

As much as I celebrate Family Guy being different and unique, it can come at a cost. This wasn’t that entertaining of a plot, to begin with. To fill it full of obscure, non-relevant references, and end things on a joke note without any resolution, it’s not as clever as it once was, or they think it is. This premiere even lacked the abundant cutscenes that Family Guy is known and revered for. It’s amazing what this show has accomplished, I just hope they have some special episodes in store for fans this season. Nobody wants to sit through 20+ episodes of nonsense.